


Speaking of Sam

by Fig Newton (sg_fignewton)



Series: Speaking of SG-1 [3]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Angst, Character Study, Episode Related, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Introspection, Women Being Awesome, teamy goodness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-26
Updated: 2017-11-26
Packaged: 2019-02-07 02:49:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 1,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12831732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sg_fignewton/pseuds/Fig%20Newton
Summary: Twelve prompted drabbles, twelve glimpses of Sam. Vague spoilers forSingularityandAffinity, and includes references to Sam's role in later seasons and post-series.All twelve of these drabbles are exactly 100 words according to Semagic, but AO3's word count may differ.





	1. Birthdays

**Author's Note:**

> Written in April 2011; prompts are chapter titles.

They'd celebrated birthdays on Hanka, but Cassie didn't know how to translate her birth date to Earth's calendar. Sam suggested she choose one instead.

"Can I have the same birthday as you?" Cassie asked after a moment.

Sam opened her mouth to suggest, _Don't you want your own special day?_ She stopped when she saw Cassie's eyes.

"Of course," she said warmly, and hugged Cassie. "It will be our day together."

They couldn't always commemorate it on schedule -- Sam was off-world sometimes, or busy saving it -- but no matter how belated, Sam and Cassie always shared a birthday celebration.


	2. Sam discovers that Teal'c has a kitten

"She's adorable!" Sam cooed. "What's her name?"

"Kal'ma," Teal'c said proudly. "It means 'little one'."

Sam watched the large finger delicately stroke Kal'ma's head, eliciting a purr of contentment. Her smile widened as she contemplated the sight of Teal'c caring for the little creature with that gentle touch of his. Most people at the SGC only saw the powerful warrior; Sam considered herself fortunate to be among the chosen few who also knew Teal'c the person.

"I've got lots of Shroedinger's toys left," Sam offered. "I'll bring them tomorrow." She couldn't wait to see Teal'c playing with a squeaky ball.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This drabble is a technical sequel to [this one](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11995740/chapters/27139191).


	3. Things are only impossible until they are not

Analytical thinking is an absolute requirement in the hard sciences, but the greater universe beyond the Stargate confounds Sam's perceptions of _possible_ and _impossible_. When she first travels to Abydos and Daniel Jackson questions her certainties, Sam slowly realizes, with incredulous joy, that _impossible_ will no longer be practical. The word seems to have little or no meaning at the SGC.

The habit of years of scientific method still trips her up on occasion. But for the most part, Sam doesn't worry about _impossible_ anymore. Instead, Sam begins with what she wants to achieve, and turns it into the _possible_.


	4. Speeding tickets

Sam swore under her breath as the wail of sirens reached her over the rush of wind. Reluctantly, she braked.

The police officer left her car and approached Sam. "Why, Major Carter!" she exclaimed with false cheer. "We meet again." 

"Officer Phillips, right?" Trying to smile, Sam pulled out her military ID. "Look, I've got to get to NORAD -- it's an emergency. National security."

"Ooh, nice one. I'm surprised you didn't try that last time."

"It was my day off then!"

"Yeah, right," Phillips snorted.

Sam sighed. Hammond was starting to get annoyed at the sheer number of speeding tickets...


	5. Science is nothing but perception

More than anything else, Sam wants to _see._

She wants to peer into the marvels of the universe and comprehend its mechanism, to gaze upon the amazing phenomena they've found through the Stargate and truly understand. Sam's not blind to aesthetic beauty -- she's caught her breath at the glory of multiple suns setting in a purple sky, stared transfixed at mountains taller than Everest -- but the workings of energy and spacetime seem infinitely more wondrous than the dance of light and energy across the visible spectrum.

If science is nothing but perception, as Plato said, Sam wants to perceive _everything._


	6. Last woman standing

Daniel's head had dropped to the table long ago. His peaceful snores underscored Jack's bleary glare.

"Go on, Carter," he slurred. "Showya hooz boss."

"You're on. _Sir,_ " Sam returned.

"Bottoms up!" Jack shouted, and knocked his drink back. Sam's head tilted up as she swallowed.

They glanced at their referee. Teal'c gave a grave nod.

"Gimme another," Jack challenged, then blinked twice and tipped sideways. His collapse was slow enough for a deadpan Teal'c to catch him before he crashed.

Sam took deep breaths before lifting her final glass of tequila. "Cheers, Teal'c," she managed, and drank, the clear winner.


	7. Hacker!Sam

Sam carefully locked the door of her lab, then joined Daniel at her computer. He sat quietly, coffee cup warming his hands.

Opening a special program, Sam ran their monthly hack of the Appropriation Committee's report. They'd designed new encryption codes, but Sam broke them easily.

"How bad is it this time?" Daniel asked softly.

"Kinsey wants us fired again." She pointed to one item on the screen. "But proving this wrong will help, I think."

Daniel read over her shoulder. "Yes, we can counter that. Good thing you caught it."

"Just routine," Sam shrugged, and shut the program down.


	8. Beauty is truth, truth beauty

Sam sees beauty in getting things right: accurate equations, working machinery, efficient solutions. There's an elegance there that transcends color or texture or sound -- it's the _feeling_ engendered by rightness. By truth.

Sam hates being wrong -- it's an ugly scar on the beauty of perfection. But she'd rather be corrected and learn the truth than remain blissfully ignorant.

What's right on Earth isn't always right off-world, but there's a beauty even to that, Sam feels. She'll find the truth -- in physics, in space, in the ebb and flow of time itself. All she has to do is keep looking.


	9. Sam, Teal'c, lucky bamboo

"I do not understand why this bamboo is lucky."

Sam chuckled. "It's a nickname -- it's practically indestructible and often used in feng shui."

Teal'c's eyebrow arched. "Indeed? Are you familiar with that art, Colonel Carter?"

"Not me," Sam said dismissively. "I like harmony and balance well enough, but I'm fine with Air Force drab." She waved a hand at the SGC's bland walls.

Teal'c nodded, then regarded the plant again. "And you believe this will live when the fern did not?"

"Just until you have your own place again," Sam said quietly. "It thrives in artificial light." _As must you._


	10. Sam hates Windows Vista

Hissing through her teeth, Sam typed wildly at the keyboard. "This system," she announced grimly, "is absolute garbage!"

"C'mon, Carter," Jack teased. "Tell us how you _really_ feel."

"Why are they forcing us to use Windows Vista for the SGC network?" Sam grumped. "Good thing the Gate computers are completely independent. Imagine if we got the Blue Screen of Death when we wanted to close the iris!"

Jack shrugged. "Talk to Bill Gates, Carter. Or go and build a better one yourself."

Too late, he saw the sudden gleam in Sam's eyes. Oops.

The funny thing was, she probably _could_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's one thing to be technically know that Stargate ended over a decade ago. It's quite another thing to reread this prompt and giggle. :)


	11. Leaving SG-1

For the first time in eight years, Sam was at loose ends.

Such triumphs! The Replicators gone, the Goa'uld defeated, the Jaffa freed. But any celebration was leavened with the sadness of inevitable change: General O'Neill transferring to Washington, Daniel preparing his trip to Atlantis, and Teal'c already gone to help lead his people. The SGC felt empty.

If only their original mandate still held -- pursuit of technology _and_ knowledge, the joy of pure exploration. But even after victory, the IOA and the Pentagon seemed to care only for the bottom line.

Sam sighed. Area 51 looked better all the time.


	12. The USS George Hammond

Sam was happiest as Colonel O'Neill's 2IC, focusing on military and scientific priorities without undue strain. Being promoted to leader of SG-1 meant shunting aside her own skillset to deal with command. She'd performed admirably, but when they offered SG-1 again after Area 51, she readily deferred to Mitchell.

Then there was the year in Atlantis, the joy of in-depth study of Ancient tech contrasting with the stress of leadership. And finally, the Hammond: the demands of command, with little or no pleasure in exploration.

But Sam was a soldier, following orders. She'd do her job, and do it well.


End file.
